[zzalpha]

Why on earth do you believe a formal system would make backstabbing and politics worse?

I'd argue it has the potential to make it better since it creates a papertrail and transparency. I'd rather that than Joe Angry Developer sneakily badmouthing me to my boss or my co-workers behind my back.

Worst case it seems like a lateral move as far as politics goes.

[sheepmullet]

You have changed from a system where small complaints are usually handled between individuals to a system where people are encouraged to report complaints into a long lived formal system that can be viewed by the management chain as well as by HR.

How would you respond if I file a HR complaint about you or send a complaint to your manager?

Better than if we had just had a quiet word?

Or now rather than blowing off steam by complaining to another colleague that e.g. you don't want to delegate your co-worker will formally report it into a system used to manage compensation and career progression.

Others will game the system and make sure people write lots of positive comments about them. Now when it comes to the next pay cycle I have dozens of positive comments and you have a couple of positives and a few negatives. Guess how that will work out for you?

It encourages people to complain in the heat of the moment.

Etc etc etc.

Not to mention that people who want to badmouth you behind your back still will.

[Spooky23]

It creates a situation where you need to have a clean record to advance. So John Shitbird Supervisor can leave some turd in your HR file about your failure to call in sick in 1980 and it's a demerit that travels with you for all time.

These things only matter when you need to justify a raise or cover your ass for a termination.

[sjg007]

lol... this is so far off the mark. The review system is biased by the employer to manage down compensation except in cases where they identify business critical employees. The politics is about convincing someone you are mission critical.